Friday, March 27, 2015

Woman lied she was raped by soldiers to hide a threesome from her boyfriend

Nicole Richess, 20, is in jail today, and she'll be there for two and a half years because she told a rape lie that caused two innocent soldiers, aged 23 and 24, to be arrested.

Richess and a friend named Laura Hillwood met a group of soldiers at a nightclub. They went back to Hillwood's house, and Richess and two of the men slipped into a bedroom and started having sex. Hillwood walked in on them in a state of undress and ordered them to leave, so they headed over to Richess’s home where they continued to have sex. The following morning Richess drove the soldiers to their barracks.

Hillwood told mutual friends she had walked in on the threesome, and Richess’s boyfriend found out and asked Richess what was going on. Richess lied because she didn't want her boyfriend to know she had cheated on him. She went to the police and, in a 65 minute tearful interview, Richess concocted a detailed story of rape that made a police officer feel sorry for her. The two innocent young men were arrested, leaving them distraught and petrified.

The police interviewed witnesses and figured out Richess was lying. Two weeks after the incident, the soldiers were told they wouldn't face charges, but not before their lives were turned upside down with worry and fear. Richess pled guilty to perverting the course of judgment.

In pronouncing sentence, the judge told her: "The impact on these victims cannot be understated . . . ." The two men told the court that the incident had been life-altering, in a very negative way.